The New York Times calls Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) one of the Republican Party’s “rising stars.” The Daily Beast says he’s “a smoother, more pragmatic political operator” than his father, former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-Tex.). All that seems true. So riddle me this: What’s the upside for Paul to put his name on e-mails like this one, which landed in my inbox this morning?

It’s one thing for no-name pols to work on the fringes. But Paul, at this point, has a lot to lose. Yet here he is, suggesting the current president of the United States is working with “anti-American globalists plot[ting] against our Constitution.” And for what?

Here’s the whole e-mail. It’s on behalf of the National Association on Gun Rights, and it leads you to this Paul-centric splash page.

Dear fellow Patriot,

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Gun-grabbers around the globe believe they have it made.

You see, only hours after re-election, Barack Obama immediately made a move for gun control…

On November 7th, his administration gleefully voted at the UN for a renewed effort to pass the “Small Arms Treaty.”

But after the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut — and anti-gun hysteria in the national media reaching a fever pitch — there’s no doubt President Obama and his anti-gun pals believe the timing has never been better to ram through the U.N.’s global gun control crown jewel.

Ultimately, UN bureaucrats will stop at nothing to register, ban and CONFISCATE firearms owned by private citizens like YOU.

So far, the gun-grabbers have successfully kept many of their schemes under wraps.

But looking at previous attempts by the UN to pass global gun control, you and I can get a good idea of what’s likely in the works.

You can bet the UN is working to FORCE the U.S. to implement every single one of these anti-gun policies:*** Enact tougher licensing requirements, making law-abiding Americans cut through even more bureaucratic red tape just to own a firearm legally;

*** CONFISCATE and DESTROY ALL “unauthorized” civilian firearms (all firearms owned by the government are excluded, of course);

*** BAN the trade, sale and private ownership of ALL semi-automatic weapons;

*** Create an INTERNATIONAL gun registry, setting the stage for full-scale gun CONFISCATION.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this is NOT a fight we can afford to lose.

Ever since its founding 65 years ago, the United Nations has been hell-bent on bringing the United States to its knees.

To the petty dictators and one-world socialists who control the UN, the United States of America isn’t a “shining city on a hill” — it’s an affront to their grand designs for the globe.

These anti-gun globalists know that as long as Americans remain free to make our own decisions without being bossed around by big government bureaucrats, they’ll NEVER be able to seize the worldwide power they crave.

And the UN’s apologists also know the most effective way to finally strip you and me of ALL our freedoms would be to DESTROY our gun rights.

That’s why I was so excited to see the National Association for Gun Rights leading the fight to stop the UN “Small Arms Treaty!”

And every dollar counts in this fight so even if you can only chip in $10 or $20, it will make a difference.

By the way: This treaty, at least as described here, is total fantasy. The hoax-busters at Snopes.com will catch you up, and just for good measure, PolitiFact gave similar claims the old pants-on-fire. This is black helicopter stuff from Paul.